Truant burglary suspects busted in North Lauderdale

Skipping school leads to arrest on burglary charges

February 10, 2010|By Rafael A. Olmeda, Sun Sentinel

NORTH LAUDERDALE — A pair of teenagers hanging out when they should have been in school led investigators to a cache of stolen property -- and three arrests -- the Broward Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.

Now detectives are looking for the guns allegedly stolen by the teens and their adult friend.

Deputies found two 13-year-old students in the 6300 block of Southwest 19th Street in the middle of a school day on Feb. 2. When they asked the students for permission to search them, one blurted out that he had marijuana in his pocket. That same teenager confessed to joining his friend and an adult on a string of burglaries in Lauderdale Lakes, raking in jewelry, laptops, video game systems and firearms, the Sheriff's Office said.

The arrested adult was identified as Stephen Paulk, 23, of North Lauderdale. He is in the Broward Main Jail on $2,000 bail. The Sun-Sentinel is withholding the names of the teenagers because of their ages. The three were charged with burglary, grand theft and grand theft of a firearm.

Investigators have been able to recover most of the stolen property except for four firearms. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the guns to call Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).